At 27, Atlanta-based rapper Sahbabii has already been at the forefront of hip-hop’s younger generation for close to a decade. Early hits like 2017’s “Pull Up Wit ah Stick” and “Marsupial Superstars” established the rapper, born Saheem Malik Valdery, as one of his era’s foremost innovators. In 2021, after a steady stream of successful mixtapes like the critically acclaimed tape Barnacles, he dropped his debut studio album, Do It For Demon, a dedication to his childhood friend who passed away a year prior. That record’s darker sensibility marked a departure for Sahbabii, whose calling card up to that point was absurdist raps that bounced from cartoon references to intricate X-rated fantasies with an intuitive sense of charm and humor.
He says he spent the three years since Do It For Demon working on his latest, Saaheem, which, despite dropping last month with almost no promotion, has quickly taken a spot as one of the best rap albums of the year. On set at the music video shoot for the album’s lead single, “Viking,” he explains that the Saaheem is “a rebirth” and that he’s “taking all the sounds from my old projects and putting it in here.”
While artists these days have been known to cultivate a sense of mystique, Sahbabii’s low-key approach to promoting Saaheem wasn’t part of a bigger strategy but a result of his singular focus. “I think a fan page announced the album before I even did,” he jokes. “It don’t be on my mind as much as making the music sound good. Even with no promo, what made the shit go up was the music.”
“Viking” is an example of what excited people about this record early on. The song’s rumbling, almost stuttering drums, coupled with Sahbabii’s preternatural talent for one-liners like “I give a fuck who like me / Go walk it off, my nigga go hikin’,” made the track an immediate standout. Tyler, the Creator even commented on Sahbabii’s Instagram post about the album, writing: “VIKING IS INCREDIBLE.”
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Sah parades through Bed Stuy in Brooklyn for the music video, waving a custom purple flag that replaces the NFL’s Minnesota Viking logo with a rendering of his face in the center. “I wanted to shoot it out here,” he says of New York. “I like how New York looks because New York got real blocks, you know what I’m saying?”
Like with most things, Sahbabii relies mostly on instincts when it comes to beat selection. He says he knew he liked the “Viking” beat immediately. “It’s like: ‘Let’s load that up,’” he recalls. “We did it in one session.” Saaheem moves seamlessly through these kinds of moments—songs that take hold of you instantly. He balances a more raw emotional sensibility throughout the album while maintaining a lightheartedness that wasn’t as present on the more somber Do It For Demon. Tracks like “Belt Boyz” flip Chicago regional slang into something breezy and melodic, nevermind it’s a song about whooping people’s asses. “That’s paying homage to my other hometown, Chicago. They use the lingo, ‘Put a belt to ass.’ So, I made a song called Belt Boyz. Like, we relentless,” he explains. “We putting belt to ass.”
When we meet at the video’s second location, a walk-up apartment in Williamsburgh, Sahbabii wears a newly acquired diamond septum piercing (you can watch him pick it out on the popular Icebox YouTube channel) as he explains the three-year process of making this latest album. “I feel like I have a greater appreciation for Do it for Demon now because it eased me into the realistic tone,” he says. “And Barnacles being like, I wouldn’t call Barnacles La La Land, but it’s kind of like La La Land. And I feel like Do It for Demon is set up for me to become more realistic. Since I’m older.”
There is a healthy amount of that signature fantastical playfulness on Saaheem, but Sah’s lyricism has indeed grown more mature. He says he was intentional about making this album palatable to a wider audience. Part of that transition meant recording in a professional studio. “I still had been recording on the home setup. So I wanted this to have more bravado,” he explains. “I’m just trying to keep elevating. If I do get to a bigger space, I’ma embrace it.”
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At first, Sah says he wasn’t too keen on the studio process. “I feel like the vocals sounded a little bit too bright. When I was recording myself at home, I’m down there slick mumbling and shit, I know what I want to do, but I’m slick on some shy stuff,” he explains. “So it’s like, the studio basically exposing me like, ‘Hey, bro. You got to do more. You got to speak louder.’”
Sahbabii says the studio started to click for him as they recorded another album stand out, “Sylvan Rd Riding Down Dill.” That track, recorded at a smaller, more intimate studio, finds Sahbabii squarely in his bag, achieving his unique vocal dynamism while making head-spinning one-liners look easy. “Neck long brachiosaurus,” he raps. “Durango truck yeah its roarin’.”
He describes his writing process as mostly intuitive. “Sometimes I might have a concept in my mind, like, when I got the beat for the song ‘Sylvan Rd Ridin Down Dill,’ it gave me a feeling of, ‘Okay. Now I got something to start with,’” he explains. “It’s like a cooking show when they give you certain ingredients. You got that certain ingredient. You know where to start.”
Lately, Sahbabii says his album has been all he’s been listening to. This coming from someone who apparently likes to drive around in silence. “That ain’t even being biased. I like all the songs because I usually don’t even listen to my music once I drop it, but I’ve been bumping this shit. I ain’t going to lie,” he says.
Despite having one of the hottest albums out right now, he seems decidedly humble. He says his main focus currently is his two sons, who are seven and four months old, respectively. “I’m trying to set them up properly,” he says. “My oldest son, he listens to the music. He pretty smart. He ain’t going to go repeating that stuff, he ain’t going to do that.”
Sahbabii says that raising children has shown him a capacity for more empathy. “Everybody got feelings. No matter what age. Kids get depressed, they get all that,” he says. “They know what they talking about. Kids got feelings, you know?”
With lyrics that pull from the worlds of cartoons to sports, Sahbabii says he’s still a kid at heart himself. With his latest project, he’s found a balance between the harsher realities of the real world, and his own playful spirit. “I feel like that’s still important. I’m still a child at heart, but you got trauma, you got stuff that you go through. I ain’t going to hide it.”